#1
From cleveland.com: The sheriff's office said the victim was putting up a Mitt Romney political sign near the Summit County polling spot at 725 Portage Lakes Drive in Coventry Township when Pegley pulled up in his car and shouted obscenities at him from inside his vehicle.

[An Nahar] Sudan's President Omar al-BashirHead of the National Congress Party. He came to power in 1989 when he, as a brigadier in the Sudanese army, led a group of officers in a bloodless military coup that ousted the government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and eventually appointed himself president-for-life. He has fallen out with his Islamic mentor, Hasan al-Turabi, tried to impose shariah on the Christian and animist south, resulting in its secessesion, and attempted to Arabize Darfur by unleashing the barbaric Janjaweed on it. Sudan's potential prosperity has been pissed away in warfare that has left as many as 400,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced. Omar has been indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court but nothing is expected to come of it. has been discharged from hospital in Soddy Arabia...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face... and is recovering, his press secretary said on Wednesday, after a second minor operation in less than four months.

"President Bashir left the hospital today at 8:00 am local time," and is now recovering in the Saudi kingdom before continuing with his schedule there, Emad Sayed Ahmed told Agence La Belle France Presse.

Although Bashir's visit is private, he is also to meet with senior Saudi officials, the official SUNA news agency reported.

Bashir, 68, underwent a "successful small surgery" after traveling to Saudi Arabia on Monday for a normal medical check connected to an infection in his vocal cords, SUNA said on Tuesday.

Bashir is "in good health and is carrying out all his presidential activities normally," SUNA said.

Ahmed in late October denied rumors that Bashir was sick and said he underwent minor surgery during the holy Moslem fasting month of Ramadan, which was observed from mid-July to mid-August.

The president, known for his fiery...a single two-syllable word carrying connotations of both incoherence and viciousness. A fiery delivery implies an audience of rubes and yokels, preferably forming up into a mob... public speeches, has been relatively quiet in recent weeks, making his fewer orations more restrained.

Boeing announced a major restructuring of its defense division on Wednesday that will cut 30 percent of management jobs from 2010 levels, close facilities in California and consolidate several business units to cut costs.

The company told employees about the changes on Wednesday, in a memo obtained by Reuters and confirmed by Boeing.

Boeing, the Pentagon's second-largest supplier, said the changes were the latest step in an affordability drive that has already reduced the company's costs by $2.2 billion since 2010, according to the memo.

The measures come as U.S. weapons makers are under pressure to cut costs and preserve profit margins amid dwindling defense spending in the U.S.

In a message to employees, Dennis Muilenburg, chief executive of Boeing Defense, Space & Security, said the company aimed to cut costs by an additional $1.6 billion from 2013 through 2015.

He said the total savings would reach $4 billion, making the company healthier and better able to deal with a tougher marketplace.

He said Boeing would cut the number of executive jobs an additional 10 percent by the end of 2012, bringing overall cuts in its executive team to 30 percent for the past two years, a move that would result in a 10 percent cut in management costs.

Boeing said the changes were not a response to the threat of additional, across-the-board U.S. budget cuts due to take effect on Jan. 2, or the outcome of U.S. elections, but represented another step in its continuing drive to "be more competitive while investing in technologies and people."

As a general strike called by the two main labor unions paralyzed the country for a second straight day, more than 70,000 people turned out to protest the new 18.5-billion-euro ($23.6-billion) belt-tightening package.

The measures are vital to unlock international aid and stave off imminent bankruptcy for the crisis-ravaged country.

The demonstration proceeded peacefully for nearly two hours as a heavy police cordon stood guard.

But when officers used tear gas to repel a group of nearly 300 people, protesters responded by throwing petrol bombs, according to a police source, who said 20 people had been cooled for a few yearsDrop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages!The violence erupted as 300 politicians held a fierce and lengthy pre-vote session that was interrupted when Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras announced that salary cuts would also affect parliamentary employees -- who responded by threatening to go on strike immediately.

#1
Update
The Troika ( European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund)are on a promise to Geitner to do everything to keep the EURO stable until at least the election, so as not to damage Obamas re-election chances, in return for which the bailout funds will be extended to Europe. You can sleep soundly at night from now on just listening to the printing presses purring away in overdrive.Greece lawmakers back austerity cuts amid protestsLawmakers in Greece have narrowly backed a fresh round of austerity measures, despite violent protests across the country.

The austerity package aimed at securing the next round of bailout funds was passed with 153 MPs in favour - a majority of just three.

Hours after U.S. President Barack Obama was re-elected, the United States backed a U.N. committee's call on Wednesday to renew debate over a draft international treaty to regulate the $70 billion global conventional arms trade.

U.N. delegates and gun control activists have complained that talks collapsed in July largely because Obama feared attacks from Republican rival Mitt Romney if his administration was seen as supporting the pact, a charge Washington denies.

The month-long talks at U.N. headquarters broke off after the United States - along with Russia and other major arms producers - said it had problems with the draft treaty and asked for more time.

But the U.N. General Assembly's disarmament committee moved quickly after Obama's win to approve a resolution calling for a new round of talks March 18-28. It passed with 157 votes in favor, none against and 18 abstentions.

U.N. diplomats said the vote had been expected before Tuesday's U.S. presidential election but was delayed due to Superstorm Sandy, which caused a three-day closure of the United Nations last week.
An official at the U.S. mission said Washington's objectives have not changed.

"We seek a treaty that contributes to international security by fighting illicit arms trafficking and proliferation, protects the sovereign right of states to conduct legitimate arms trade, and meets the concerns that we have been articulating throughout," the official said.

"We will not accept any treaty that infringes on the constitutional rights of our citizens to bear arms," he said.
U.S. officials have acknowledged privately that the treaty under discussion would have no effect on domestic gun sales and ownership because it would apply only to exports.

The main reason the arms trade talks are taking place at all is that the United States - the world's biggest arms trader accounting for more than 40 percent of global conventional arms transfers - reversed U.S. policy on the issue after Obama was first elected and decided in 2009 to support a treaty.

'MONTHS AWAY' FROM DEAL?

Countries that abstained included Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Sudan, Belarus, Cuba and Iran. China, a major arms producer that has traditionally abstained, voted in favor.

Among the top six arms-exporting nations, Russia cast the only abstention. Britain, France and Germany joined China and the United States in support of the resolution.

The measure now goes to the 193-nation General Assembly for a formal vote. It is expected to pass.

The resolution said countries are "determined to build on the progress made to date towards the adoption of a strong, balanced and effective Arms Trade Treaty."

Jeff Abramson, director of Control Arms, a coalition of advocacy groups, urged states to agree on stringent provisions.

"In Syria, we have seen the death toll rise well over 30,000, with weapons and ammunition pouring in the country for months now," he said. "We need a treaty that will set tough rules to control the arms trade, that will save lives and truly make the world a better place."
Brian Wood of Amnesty International said: "After today's resounding vote, if the larger arms trading countries show real political will in the negotiations, we're only months away from securing a new global deal that has the potential to stop weapons reaching those who seriously abuse human rights."Can we get a definition of this term "human rights?" Like the Human Rights being practiced in Syria?
The treaty would require states to make respecting human rights a criterion for allowing arms exports.

Britain's U.N. mission said on its Twitter feed it hoped that the March negotiations would yield the final text of a treaty. Such a pact would then need to be ratified by the individual signatories before it could enter into force.

The National Rifle Association, the powerful U.S. interest group, strongly opposes the arms treaty and had endorsed Romney.
The United States has denied it sought to delay negotiations for political reasons, saying it had genuine problems with the draft as written.

Ghia will not be mocked. To sooth her wraith the eternal virgins, Sarah Jessica Parker and Mikey Moore should step forward as human sacrifices.
Tens of thousands of residents in New York and New Jersey have again lost power as a winter storm hit areas still recovering from Sandy's devastating impact.

Some people were again forced to leave their homes and public transport was affected.

Winds gusted at up to 60mph (100km/h) bringing down trees and power lines.

New Jersey state governor Chris Christie said: "I am waiting for the locusts and pestilence next."

A long-abandoned fermentation process once used to turn starch into explosives can be used to produce renewable diesel fuel to replace the fossil fuels now used in transportation, University of California, Berkeley, scientists have discovered.

Campus chemists and chemical engineers teamed up to produce diesel fuel from the products of a bacterial fermentation discovered nearly 100 years ago by the first president of Israel, chemist Chaim Weizmann. The retooled process produces a mix of products that contain more energy per gallon than ethanol that is used today in transportation fuels and could be commercialized within 5-10 years. While the fuel's cost is still higher than diesel or gasoline made from fossil fuels, the scientists said the process would drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, one of the major contributors to global climate change.

#7
The wife worked for a company in South San Francisco that produced diesel and gas from E.Coli fermentation of sugars. She and 50% of her company got laid off 3 weeks ago. I say good riddance, there is no future in making automobile fuel out of food. She is currently interviewing in a much more sustainable market and I, for one, think it will be a good move for her. Cellulosic conversion will be the future of biofuels, not sugars.

A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.